Quail (Pricing.)

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Along with the rabbits I am wanting to start selling my quail, and their eggs (for incubating.) I know a few of you guys also have Coturnix Quail so I am looking for advice on how I should price my live quail, and eggs.

When we bought our quail we paid $2.25 per quail.

I am thinking I want to charge the same, or possibly $2.50 since we are almost the only ones to have them in this area.

I am stuck on the price that I want for my incubation eggs.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!
 
I'm in Ontario and price my quail by age and colour, I am the only one in the area with different varieties ;)

Brown/pharaoh hatchlings under 2 weeks are $2 and go up $1 each week

My coloured chicks (red, yellow, white and combos) are $2.50 as chicks and go up $1 each week

At 5-6 weeks the females Browns are $8 and males stay at $5

The coloured quail must be vent sexed and can take a few extra weeks - females are $10 and males $6

I sell eggs for $2.50/dozen
 
Thank you once again Dood!

I'll post a picture of my quail. When we bought them the guy just said that they were Coturnix Quail, but since you are the master. I shall ask you as well!

KwKa5K4.jpg


Oh yeah, I also wanted to ask about sales policy.

What to add. So far I'm thinking.

Fertility, and hatch rate are NOT guaranteed.

That's all I've got so far, haha.
 
They are all Cots but there are a few colour genes available that make the different varieties. Your gang look like Pharaohs AKA brown AKA wild type :)

I don't have a sales policy and make no guarantees on quail as there are just too many environmental factors that can effect growth and fertility :shrug:

But

I won't sell chicks under a week old except to very experienced keepers, IMHO they are just too delicate, and why I price the 2 week olds the same as day olds ;)
 
Around here, adult pharaoh coturnix are usually sold in the $3-5 range,
Peeps for about $1 each.
Eggs, I'm not sure of. I think though, 12 little quail eggs tends to cost about the same as 12 big chicken eggs, and not cheapo factory farm grocery store prices either. Hatching eggs tend to cost more than eating eggs, but, not more than the price of peeps.
 
That is extremely helpful, thank you!

As far as sales policy I have:

Fertility, and hatch rate are NOT guaranteed.

Any eggs broken AFTER you have left the property will NOT be replaced.

I just want to cover my own behind from the "not so smart folks" that I seem to encounter, haha.

I don't want someone driving off my property, they slam on their brakes, and end up with a quail egg omelet all over their car, then come back to me like, "Uhh, they all broke, can you replace them without charge?!"
 
I never understood why even have quails, comparing to chickens? They are much smaller, you must butcher more to have more meat, I don`t believe that their eggs are so much better than "regular" and even those are so much smaller..

What is their charm?
 
For me personally. Quail eggs for one just taste better. While yes you do have to butcher more quail to get more meat. Quail are SOOO much easier to butcher than chicken. There's no heating up water, plucking all the feathers, and for sure not that smell of hot dead chicken flesh. :sick:

I could butcher several quail in the time it takes to do 1 chicken. Also less prep time, and tools to drag out.
 
Nika":1ydb3ydm said:
I never understood why even have quails, comparing to chickens?

Quail are much smaller and are much quieter than chickens. I can have breeding populations within city limits where a rooster would be completely unacceptable.
They can be kept with less space, so for some, the size is an advantage.

They are much smaller, you must butcher more to have more meat
This is true, but, I find that I can dress a coturnix quail in about 15 seconds flat. MUCH less time than it takes for me to dress a chicken. Also, the quail do not stink nearly as bad as any chicken I've processed.

I don`t believe that their eggs are so much better than "regular" and even those are so much smaller..

Chickens that forage have better tasting eggs than "regular" grocery store eggs.

Quail eggs, compared to free range chicken eggs, are just a bit more rich. Not much difference otherwise.
A small, very good egg, that some would rather not bother with, and some really like.

Please forgive my run on sentences. I'm getting VERY lazy about writing...
 
HansenHomestead":398s409e said:
not that smell of hot dead chicken flesh. :sick:

This is reason enough.I want quails :D (My miniature schnauzer smells like this, when wet. Horrible)

Thank you both :)
 
When I say quail are easier to butcher I am not kidding, haha.

Literally all you need is: Sharp scissors, water, freezer bag.

That's it!

And yes I can FOREVER live without that smell. Once we get chickens again we've decided that we'll be focusing on laying hens rather than dual purpose chickens.

A whole fresh chicken is only $5 at the butcher shop. I can deal with that. :lol:
 
I keep my 36 breeders in 3 cages in the garage which is a treat when it's -30 out and the hens need feeding, watering and the eggs collected :(

I can hatch, and can sell chicks, year round as their fertility doesn't drop and the eggs don't get chilled

They grow like weeds and go from 1/2 oz to 8oz in 8 weeks :D

They are the perfect size for my dogs raw meals and they more than earn their keep in sales as breeding stock or as feeders for pets

__________ Fri Mar 25, 2016 4:51 pm __________

Here is one of my cages - a 48 X 24 re-purposed rabbit cage with 10 hens and 2 males. On the left is a 10" sono tube with straw/hay and where many hens lay their eggs. They also huddle in there when it starts to get cold, although the garage rarely freezes. The J-feeder has a wire grate over the opening so the birds cannot easily scratch out feed. Then there is a small (brown in this cage) feed bowl for oyster shell and then they have their water bowl on the right
 

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